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What’s Going On in This Picture? | April 22, 2013

By The Learning Network April 22, 2013 7:00 amApril 22, 2013 7:00 am

Photo

What’s going on in this picture? Look closely at the image above, or view it in a larger size, then tell us what you see by posting a comment. On April 23, we will reveal more about the image and its origins at the bottom of this post.Credit Christopher Gregory/The New York Times

Update: April 23, 2013

Students: After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image here),
think about these three questions:

What’s going on in this picture?

What do you see that makes you say that?

What more can you find?

Then, join the conversation by posting comments below, and responding to the comments of others. (But please remember not to post your last name.)

Our collaborators, Visual Thinking Strategies, will be facilitating the discussion from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking responses, all in an attempt
to help students go deeper.

On April 23 we will reveal more information about the photo at the bottom of this post. How does reading the caption and learning its “back story” help you to see the image differently?

Staff members in the office of Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader, sought to make a political point by piling up a stack of regulations related to President Obama’s health care plan ahead
of his visit to Capitol Hill to discuss the nation’s finances.

The day I took this picture was particularly hectic on Capitol Hill. President Obama was at the Capitol meeting with Senators, and as that took place, Minority Leader McConnell’s office decided they were
going to stack all of the regulations of the so-called “Obamacare” to make a point about how complicated it is.

Photographers on the Hill are often corralled for security reasons and to limit movement, but I took a moment to tear away from most of the other photographers and stumbled upon this scene. I photographed it for
about 15 minutes and then went right back to covering the President. I think the lesson I learned is that curiosity and taking a chance to follow your instincts to do something different pay off.

Senator McConnell repeated the political point on March 15 at the Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC, by displaying the stack of health care rules using a hand truck on stage. You can read more
about this year’s CPAC, and see a clear image of Mr. McConnell on stage with the stack of papers, in “G.O.P. Divisions Fester at Conservative Retreat”.

Our class believe that this picture was taken in a hotel or monument. The people in the picture are stacking paper because they are having a contest to see how much paper they have and they are going to put the
ribbon around the paper.

We have another challenge for you this morning. @ColonelPride has gotten us started with some observations and an interpretation of what’s happening here. Maybe the class will return and give us the evidence–what they see–that makes them conclude these people are participating in a contest….

And then more of you will follow suit: make many observations, draw conclusions, and give us your evidence!

What’s going on in this picture? they are stacking paper. What do you see that makes you say that? the four people working on a colossal paper stack What more can you find? CNN’s
Carl Azuz above everyone, and Jennifer Anniston to the left.

@kims9th noticed a lot here, including identifying certain individuals. We’d still like to read more evidence: what did you see that made you think one of these people was Jennifer Anniston, for example?

We think this picture of interns stacking state stadardized tests following the local cheating scandals in the United States. We think they are in some town hall because of the columns and the way the people are
dressed.

I believe that they are at a motel trying to pile up a bunch of documents to the wall to get it straighten up. I can tell because it’s showing four people putting up the documents near a wall to get it nice
and neat.

We seem to have a consensus about a group stacking paper but their reasons for doing it remain elusive. @mollyandlauren gave their evidence of the building being a town hall: columns and a certain style of dress. But what did you see that makes you think the papers might be tests?

And @abrahamR, what did you see that suggests to you that the building is a motel?

I think it is some sort of government building (ID badge around the man’s neck, “bronze” plaque nearly hidden by the column, numbered rooms) or a law firm. The stacked paper is to illustrate
how complicated something is – perhaps the tax code or some law. To me the red ribbon suggests they are preparing a gift (blue ribbon would indicate “the winner”), but I can’t think
of a reason why an “illustration” would be a “gift.”

What’s going on in this picture? Kim kardashian in the skirt reading papers falling down challenge to the top boxes lying on the floor pillars that are expensive

What do you see that makes you say that? she looks like kim kardashian with the hair The fact that the people are holding it up The fact that they are looking at eachother weirdly where the papers
were held they look expensive

What more can you find? The skirt looks like something she would wear the papers look like there gonna fall down they keep trying to touch the top the boxes are just standing there the pillars
are granite

@Beth’s 10th Graders, such a logical sequencing of your comments. Thanks for the clear organization!

So, one strand ihas identified the person on the right (I assume) as Kim Kardashian, but is now thinking it perhaps just looks like her based on her clothing and hair.

Another line of inquiry is that this is some sort of ‘challenge’ or competition to ‘get to the top’, and thinks the people are exchanging odd glances and trying to touch the top of the stack. What do you see that makes you say that?

The background makes the building seem fancy or higher up. The people seem to be stacking some type of paper. It could be a law firm stacking their papers out for recycling. It also seems that it could be a museum
that is setting out papers to show how much has happened in that museum. The people here are dressed very nice.

In this photo there are four people stacking paper. By the way they are dressed I assume they work for a monument or museum. Today is Earth Day so they could be showing how much paper we produce from one tree. One
of the men is taping the edges down, which makes me think they are trying to make a sculpture. They are using a large amount of paper which would be pointless if they weren’t setting it for good use.

It looks like they are staking a bunch of papers or books on top of each other. Not only is that but there a lady off to the right that looks like she has some sort of strap in her hand. They could be seeing how
high they can get the stack to stand up before it falls over. The reason why the lady might have the strap could be to help hold up all of the paper or whatever it is that they are stacking. They could also
be playing a joke and stacking all the paper and then tying it to a door so the next person to open it get covered in all of the paper and has to pick it up.

I am not sure what this picture is about. It looks like some people stacking books or paper in some sort of a library. The things I see that make me say this are the boxes for paper. I also see people trying to
hold the stack up. The structure of the building looks dark and like an old structure, which leads me to believe that this is a library.

In this picture it looks as thought a businessman is working with his assistants. From previous experience and knowledge I know that suggested bills (ones sent to Congress or the Senate) are extraordinarily long.
Perhaps this man is in Congress or in the House of Representatives and has written a bill, and now they are measuring it to see if it is the tallest bill in existence. Although it is unimaginable that a bill
soon to be presented is that long, the room (marble walls and floors, PRIVATE written on a door, and the classy dress of the people) suggests that it is an important room, or office. Bills can be extremely long,
so maybe they are all important people excited over their new work!

What I see in this picture is four people trying to stack papers and I think they are going to make an inauguration because the lady in the right is holding a red bow, and they could use that bow as the thing that
they cut when they open an important place. I think it is an inauguration because they are dressing nicely and suits. I also can see big columns and the rooms have big numbers like S233 and S232A.

This picture is clearly of the setup of an elaborate prank. The papers are being placed in a high stack beside a doorway. The red ribbon will be drawn across the wooden door and tied to the stack of papers. When
someone enters the room and crosses the ribbon, the stack will come crashing down, burying them in a mountain of paper. The prank is apparently being pulled in the lobby of a building. The pillars, artistic
doorway, and the style of the side doors make me think it’s a hotel. Perhaps the people carrying out the prank are awaiting the arrival of a famous or important person, because pranks are always better
when they’re performed on someone that many people know.